1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical alignment device such as a firearm sight adapted for use in low light and a method for mounting and adjusting optical devices such as gun sights on pistols or other firearms when operating in low light environments.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
At present, a wide variety of optical sights are available for use on firearms such as handguns or pistols. A typical pistol has optical alignment fixtures or sights including a front sight and a rear sight that can be aligned with one another to form a sight picture for aligning the pistol's point of aim on the target. Prior art pistol sights are usually mounted along the top edge of the pistol. Traditional semi-automatic pistols (such as the well known Colt™ model 1911, caliber .45) include a grip or handle carrying a lower receiver and a trigger mechanism and a slide member is slidably supported on the lower receiver.
The traditional front sight is a vertically projecting blade or ramp-like member mounted at the front of the slide and the rear sight is adapted for mounting to the rear of the slide using a dovetailed transverse protrusion that mates with a corresponding transverse dovetailed slot in the slide.
Police officers and members of the military require especially rugged sights on their weapons and so a genre of firearms and accessories adapted for “combat carry” has evolved to serve their special needs.
The applicant developed a fixed sight intended to provide a smooth and snag-free draw, a clear sight picture and rugged service; the fixed sight is shown in Design Patent D447,205. Others, including gunsmith Wayne Novak, have also developed a number of designs for sights intended to provide rugged service, and such sights are often fitted in a transverse dovetailed notch having standardized dimensions known in the industry as the “Novak notch” dimensions. By transverse is meant in a direction at a right angle to the pistol bore and lying in a horizontal plane when the pistol is held in a standard grip with the bore centerline in a horizontal plane. Generally, the standardized dimensions for the notch will accept a dovetail-like projection that is 12.5 millimeters (mm) in fore-aft length on a planar bottom surface and tapers inwardly at 70 degrees from horizontal on front and back wall surfaces; the bottom planar surface of the projection is preferably 3 mm in vertical height from the upper surface of the notch opening, within customary gunsmithing tolerances.
While the combat sights of the prior art do provide a smooth and snag-free draw, a clear sight picture and rugged service, they do not provide the adjustability many have come to enjoy when using target pistols equipped with adjustable target sights. Prior art sights also require plenty of ambient light around the target and on the sights themselves and so are not well suited for use in low light or at night. Often, when shooting in low light, there are two difficulties. First, it is difficult to identify the target and distinguish the target from the background or from any other clutter in the field of view. Secondly, it is difficult when trying to keep the target in view to also properly align the sights in what is commonly referred to as an appropriate “sight picture.”
Prior art firearms for use in a low light environment, in a firefight, often included attached tactical flashlights or the like. When confronting a mobile, armed opponent, it may be undesirable to give away a user's location by attempting to illuminate the opponent with the flashlight. To the opponent, that flashlight may serve as a beacon and give the opponent a target that is easy to find.
There has been a long felt need, then, for a firearm with a simple and reliable sight system adapted for use in low light or at night.